Battery arrest adds to man’s legal woes

A Muncie man already awaiting trial on drug-dealing charges is now accused of battering his wife.

Robert William Fern Jr., 34, 2110 S. Delawanda Ave., was arrested Wednesday on a preliminary charge of domestic battery. He was being held in the Delaware County jail on Thursday under a $5,000 bond.

According to an affidavit, his accuser said Fern struck her in the face during a disagreement. A police officer wrote the right side of the woman’s face, “from just underneath her eye ball to the bottom of her jaw bone,” was red.

Fern is set to stand trial May 5 in Delaware Circuit Court 2 on two counts of dealing in a controlled substance filed last August.

In Muncie City Court, he also faces charges of resisting law enforcement, public intoxication and disorderly conduct filed in December.